The Drifter

<p>Adventure games had all the best characters growing up: George Stobbart. Nico Collard. Guybrush Threepwood. Elaine Marley. Then a few decades later we got Harry Dubois and Kim Kitsuragi. I love adventure games because they consistently do this magic thing where you enter into the minds of these characters. Just like a novel, you can hear what they want and what they struggle with. You hear them think forbidden thoughts and watch them creep into forbidden places.</p> <p>That’s what makes adventure games the most bookish of games, the most novel-like format for interactive storytelling. But it’s not often—these games are rare, maybe once a decade—where a great story will appear out of nowhere and prove itself as the rightful heir and successor of this whole genre.</p> <p>Enter stage right: <a href="https://thedriftergame.com/">The Drifter</a>.</p> <p><img src="https://robinrendle.com/images/the_drifter.png" alt="A screenshot from The Drifter: a man stands in a deserted office full of old papers and books" /></p> <p>Last week a childhood rush of excitement hit me at full force from start to finish until I put it down and realized that this little game confidently sits amongst the pantheon of Damn Fine Adventure Games.</p> <p>And because it’s an adventure game we also get a cast of fantastic characters, too. I particularly love the protagonist, Mick Carter. Mick is a guy who can’t stay in place, who unforgivably abandons everyone he loves. You return home with him after years of running away only to stumble into a murder and a deeply satisfying sci-fi adventure that slowly builds in weirdness over the course of the game.</p> <p>So if you grew up playing Broken Sword or Monkey Island, and then were awe-struck by Disco Elysium, I reckon this adventure game is going to whisk you off your feet. The writing? Brilliant. Art? Stellar. Animations? Sick as hell.</p> <p>And the music? <a href="https://youtu.be/IULpbn6a6P8">Fan-damn-tastic</a>.</p>